jerked back. So did he. He turned away but not before her gaze swept down his body, to where the softly-faded denim of his jeans cupped the sudden tumescent bulge of his sex.
He wasn’t the only one.
Heat bloomed between her thighs. She could feel the almost painful budding of her nipples against the thinness of her robe.
Had he noticed? She wanted to cross her arms over her breasts but that would only draw attention to what had happened.
How could a kiss have such an effect?
Carefully she picked up the napkin and wiped her lips. She waited until her heartbeat steadied. When she looked up again, Tariq was at the sink, rinsing dishes as if he did things like that every day of his no-doubt useless life.
“All right,” she said briskly. “You’ve done your Good Samaritan act. You made tea and toast, cleaned up after yourself and I’m feeling much better. Thank you—and now, go away.”
He shut off the water. Dried his hands on the towel hanging beside the sink and then turned and looked at her. What had happened a moment ago might never have taken place; his eyes were the cool eyes of a stranger.
“You mean, now, we talk.”
“Fine.” Madison folded her hands on the counter. “Talk, then. Just don’t take too long to come up with a convincing explanation of why you came here tonight.”
“I’ve already told you that.”
She sighed. All at once, she was exhausted. It had been a long day, starting with the exciting news from her doctor and ending with Tariq al Sayf’s intrusion into her life.
“Yes. You have. So let me tell you why what you claim is impossible—assuming you really are a FutureBorn donor.”
“That is not how I would describe it.”
“How I would describe it is that I carefully selected a donor from the files. You, your highness, are not that man.”
His lips curved in a mirthless smile. “I certainly did not intend to be.”
“My selection was—is—a perfect match for my requirements.”
For her requirements, Tariq thought. Interesting, that she should have thought of a father for her child in the same terms as he had thought of a woman to bear him an heir.
“I chose a man who was gentle. Easygoing. An intellectual, with creative leanings.”
Another quick, dangerous smile.
“And here I am, instead. A barbarian from a land you never heard of. Cruel. Unfeeling. About as intellectual as a game of rugby. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?”
Why lie? Madison shrugged. “You said it, not me. And besides all that, I don’t really see you as a do—” She frowned as he took an envelope from his back pocket and tossed it on the counter. “What’s that?”
“Open it.”
She looked from the envelope to him. His expression gave nothing away; the very absence of emotion in his eyes had more meaning than anything he’d said until now.
“It won’t bite you, habiba. It’s a letter from my attorney. I suggest you read it before you say anything else.”
She didn’t want to. She didn’t even want to touch it. For some crazy reason, her thoughts swung back to childhood, to an old ditty about what evil would befall you if you stepped on a crack in the sidewalk.
She’d never believed stuff like that. Her childhood had not lent itself to silly superstitions. Still, she had the awful feeling that if she picked up the envelope, read the letter inside it, she’d somehow unleash the hounds of hell.
“Read it,” Tariq said, and there was no way on earth to ignore that command.
The envelope was of ivory bond, heavy and rich to the touch. The single page within it was the same.
The engraved letterhead sent her heart skittering into her throat.
Strickland, Forbes, DiGennaro and Lustig, Attorneys at Law.
She knew the name. Anyone who did business in New York would. There were bad law firms and good law firms. There were those that were excellent, and those people talked about in tones of hushed reverence.
And then there was Strickland, Forbes, DiGennaro and Lustig. The firm was almost as old as the city; its reputation had never been touched by scandal, and the blood of its clients was the bluest of blue.
They would not represent a bogus prince, and they would not support a bogus claim.
Madison’s throat constricted. She stared blindly at the paper.
“Shall I read it to you?”
Her head came up. The prince was watching her the way a cobra would watch a hapless mouse.
“No,” she said, and then she cleared her throat. “Surprisingly enough,” she said with what she hoped was a careless smile, “I’m capable of doing that for myself.”
At first, the words were a blur. Then, gradually, they came into focus.
Your most respected excellence, Prince Tariq al Sayf, Crown Prince of Dubaac, Heir to the Throne of the Golden Falcon. Greetings.
Okay. So he had a real title. What did she give a damn about titles?
… reference to our earlier conversation …
Legalspeak filled the next paragraph. Madison felt the tension easing. An abundance of legalspeak often meant an abundance of crapola.
Unfortunately I must tell you that our concerns have been confirmed. Despite our legal directives, errors of significant magnitude …
Her vision blurred again. She took a breath, waited, then continued reading.
FutureBorn admits that the semen of your highness, Prince Tariq al Sayf, which was to be kept for use only by you or those duly authorized to act on your behalf, was inadvertently delivered to Jennifer Thomas, M.D., and introduced into the womb of Ms. Madison Jane Whitney who resides at …
The letter fluttered to the counter.
Introduced, Madison thought, and felt the bite of hysterical laughter in her throat. Introduced, his sperm to her womb.
She looked up. He was watching her as he had before, with a frigid clinical interest. Without volition, her hands folded over her flat belly.
“I told you the truth, habiba. I am not in the habit of telling falsehoods.”
The sanctimonious son of a bitch! His only concern was that she hadn’t believed him. What about her concerns? She was the one who’d been deceived. He was only the donor; she was the woman who’d wanted a child.
Except,
